Eventide Asset Management LLC Takes Position in NextEra Energy, Inc. $NEE

Key Points

• Eventide Asset Management LLC has acquired 6,391 shares of NextEra Energy, Inc., valued at approximately $450,000, during the first quarter of the year.
• NextEra Energy announced a $0.5665 quarterly dividend, representing a 3.2% annual yield, with the payment scheduled for September 15th.
• NextEra Energy's stock has a current market capitalization of $145.98 billion and recent earnings surpassed analyst expectations, reporting $1.05 EPS against a consensus estimate of $1.01.

Eventide Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 6,391 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $450,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 1.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 207,322,418 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $14,697,086,000 after buying an additional 2,025,193 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,353,245 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,655,512,000 after acquiring an additional 262,819 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in NextEra Energy by 6.7% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 21,269,146 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,507,770,000 after purchasing an additional 1,336,259 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC grew its position in NextEra Energy by 58.4% in the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 17,236,502 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,221,896,000 after purchasing an additional 6,352,798 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in NextEra Energy by 20.7% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,446,413 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,165,748,000 after buying an additional 2,815,629 shares during the last quarter. 78.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Treasurer James Michael May sold 2,177 shares of NextEra Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.50, for a total transaction of $168,717.50. Following the completion of the sale, the treasurer directly owned 27,662 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,143,805. This trade represents a 7.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Robert Coffey sold 7,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.84, for a total value of $538,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 26,539 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,906,561.76. This represents a 22.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on NEE. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating on shares of NextEra Energy in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Mizuho set a $78.00 target price on NextEra Energy in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Melius initiated coverage on NextEra Energy in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $77.00 price target for the company. Barclays boosted their price target on NextEra Energy from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Melius Research raised NextEra Energy to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, NextEra Energy presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $84.00.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

NEE stock traded up $0.30 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $70.07. 7,290,165 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,754,988. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a one year low of $61.72 and a one year high of $86.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $144.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.65. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $73.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $71.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.45.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The utilities provider reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.04. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 22.84% and a return on equity of 12.31%. The business had revenue of $6.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.52 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.96 EPS. NextEra Energy's revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 EPS for the current year.

NextEra Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 28th will be given a $0.5665 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 28th. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. NextEra Energy's dividend payout ratio is presently 79.02%.

NextEra Energy Company Profile

NextEra Energy, Inc, through its subsidiaries, generates, transmits, distributes, and sells electric power to retail and wholesale customers in North America. The company generates electricity through wind, solar, nuclear,natural gas, and other clean energy. It also develops, constructs, and operates long-term contracted assets that consists of clean energy solutions, such as renewable generation facilities, battery storage projects, and electric transmission facilities; sells energy commodities; and owns, develops, constructs, manages and operates electric generation facilities in wholesale energy markets.